"Boundaries of History": Stefan Kirmse presents his book "The Lawful Empire: Legal Change and Cultural Diversity in Late Tsarist Russia" by Stefan Kirmse
On the March 4th the series of research seminar ‘Boundaries of History’ is continuing with the presentation of the book “The Lawful Empire: Legal Change and Cultural Diversity in Late Tsarist Russia” by Stefan Kirmse, which observes the legal practices in Crimea and Kazan after the Judicial Reform of 1864, both from legal and cultural aspects.
Registration
When: March 04, 18:30 (UTC+3)
Where: This is a Zoom event. Please fill in the form to receive the invitation to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Working language: English
Speaker
Senior Research Fellow and Research Coordinator
Field of research interests: history of law in imperial Russia, focusing on Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus region, and Central Asia.
Annotation
“The Lawful Empire: Legal Change and Cultural Diversity in Late Tsarist Russia”
Stefan Kirmse’s book combines an analysis of law and legal practice with a discussion of autocratic rule over a multicultural empire. He shows, how new legal institutions and their implications for an emerging rule of law in late tsarist Russia changed the position of formerly alien territories and minorities towards the inclusivity of cultural diversity in the post-reform legal order, at least in Crimea and Kazan. It traces the implications of this position in two directions: first, it explores the meaning of legal change for the Russian Empire’s religious and nationality policies; and second, it discusses the potential benefits of adding an imperial dimension to analyses of the Russian legal system and the wider process of reform. The book approaches law from several angles. Complementing the top-down approach (it maps out the ideas behind the new courts and the actors driving legal change) with a bottom-up analysis, it adopts a comparative regional focus by highlighting similarities and differences in the implementation and local experience of the reforms.